The Red Guardian
by KageNoYoko
Summary: By day she remains the Naive adopted sister of Yang Xiao Long, sheltered from the dangers of life, and upbeat about hunting monsters. But when night falls, she has a mission to fulfill, which she has been trained for since birth. Part 1 completed, part 2 coming soon.
1. In the Night

She sat in the tree quietly, contemplating to herself as the moon shone overhead, illuminating her small figure as she watched her charge through the small window, taking in the young woman's beauty, how her long white hair seemed to cascade down her back.

At her waist gleamed a silver and red machine of death, folded up and sheathed for the moment, hanging from her holder, but ready to be wielded at a moments notice, ready for anything that might come to harm her current charge.

A small rustle in the bushes below her caught the girl's attention, and one hand gravitated quickly to her weapon, as she looked down, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from, and whether or not it might be a threat to her or the girl within the dorms.

Her eyes darted through the black miasma beneath, until finally, she saw a small gleam in the darkness, and her bright silver eyes trained onto it quickly, able to make out the figure of a tall, gangly man, and several more shadows surrounding him, which she couldn't identify.

Hesitating for a moment, her hand eased off of her weapon, until she caught sight of a symbol upon the man's black blazer, which had her grabbing fully onto her weapon, and holding her breath, trying to confirm if it was who she thought it might be.

confirmation came as the man turned slightly, and she got a full view of the symbol, which made her eyes narrow to slits.

The moon overhead illuminated the young woman, as she disappeared into a trail of rose petals, and the hunt began, as the image of the symbol engraved itself into her mind.

a wolf's head, twisted and distorted, with two horizontal slits where it's eyes would be, and dozens of spikes protruding from the silhouette.

the creatures of Grimm.

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The men had been camping out in the forest, far away from the school, until nightfall, as per instructions from their employer, and then begun to move in towards their target, keeping to the shadows as much as possible, until they were finally at the confirmed location their target was said to be staying.

It was a simple search and destroy order, but their beneficiary was offering a large sum of money to pull off this mission, thus it had been a backbreaking ordeal to receive the contract.

In the end, their lord had managed to nab it, and had immediately signed up his top men to the job, wanting to make sure it got completed quickly, and quietly, since this was a high-risk operation, in a very dangerous part of the world for people like them.

They had also been given a warning just before lift off, about possible protection that could be in place for their target, but they all scoffed at the thought at the time, doubting anyone could touch them, and seeing this as an easy meal ticket.

Oh how wrong they would turn out to be.

The whole group had spread out to surround the dormitories as the night dragged on, and it was only as the moon reached the highest point in the sky that they waved the go ahead, and began to make preparations to strike the room of their target.

Unfortunately, that was also when things began to go wrong.

First it was team E, the farthest from the target's main entrance. Their communicators crackled to life for but a moment, before they were all silenced, and failed to respond to any call-signs given, which began to unnerve some of the other groups, but were put back into progress by team A.

Then, methodically, the other teams began to get picked off, one by one, with no information given about what was attacking, until only teams B and A remained., still unaware of what was disabling or killing their team-mates.

The first thought was a huntress. This was the famous beacon academy, thus hunters and huntress would be the logical choice. but this was quickly thrown away, and they hadn't heard any kind of magical attacks being used, and most hunters relied on at least some magic.

Finally the comms. crackled to life once more, as Team B came under attack, but they had much more to say than their counterparts.

"This is team B, we are currently engaged with an unknown target, we've lost two already, both knocked unconscious by a large bludgeoning weapon, and..." there was a cry, and the comms. turned off for a moment, before the connection was re-established, "correction, three down, two remaining, no information available, only that it's sticking to the shadows and picking us off."

Team B quickly went quiet, and thus team A was all that remained in the forest, with their view through the open window, and a sight on their target.

Spurned into action by the report of team B, they began to set up for a silent, long-ranged kill, instead of the assassination they had originally planned for.

It took far too long for them to set up the guns, the leader thought to himself, as any minute now this unknown beast could be on top of them.

Hearing movement behind him, it was only years of experience that helped him save his neck from the large, crimson, silver, and black scythe that threatened to split his head from his body.

Seeing that the initial target had managed to deflect the attack, the figure disappeared back into the darkness, the leader barely managing to catch a glimpse of what he thought was a scarlet cloak, and a shower of rose petals, before everything was quiet once more, though from the shaking down his arm, this attacker was quite strong, if the size of the scythe weapon he had deflected had anything to say about it.

Everything was quiet for several seconds, everyone waiting with bated breath for the next attack to come, and cursing this figure for having the element of surprise over them.

becoming impatient for being a sitting target, one of their professional sharpshooters hefted up the customized hunting rifle he had brought along in case of the plan changing, and began to take aim at the target, wanting to at least complete the mission.

He would never get the chance, as just as he began to depress the trigger, the scythe came up from the darkness, first knocking away the long-barrelled weapon, and then sending the man flying backwards into a tree, knocked unconscious with one blow by the butt-end of the punishing weapon.

The four remaining members of the team were all high-strung at this point, and one, equally impatient, took aim into the forest, and began to unload the entire clip of his light machine gun into the darkness, the loud noise cutting through the silence of the night.

Everyone else shouted at him to stop, for fear of alerting a patrolling hunter, but he continued to unload, slicing down trees with his relentless assault of bullets, hoping to at least wound their new threat, and give the rest a chance to either escape, or take out their prey.

No one noticed as the figure in red appeared behind them, and knocked out another member of their team with two deft swings of the large scythe, first crippling him from the waist down before knocking him unconscious.

Three remaining, the leader finally managed to get their heavy weapon specialist to stop, and took notice at last of another member of their team out for the count, raising the hairs on the back of his neck as if a slavering beast was breathing down his collar, and the clammy cold of the night finally seemed to react with his skin.

No one dared to react, and all three went back to pack, to try and deter this hunter from picking them off further, the heavy weapon specialist taking the time to reload his spent weapon, smoke wafting away from the barrel of his gun.

This was the moment the hunter struck again, using several swings of the now recognizably sharp blade to make short work of the belt of bullets in his hand, before equally destroying his weapon, and sending him flying away into a distant tree.

both training pistols on the place where their hunter had just been, the remaining members of Team A opened fire, hoping to wound and incapacitate, and grinned as they heard a short cry, and the sound of a bullet meeting skin.

Thinking the threat was over, they strut back to the weapons case they had brought along, and rummaged inside for the sniper rifle, wanting to kill the target, collect their allies, and get out of there.

Unfortunately the threat was not over, as no sooner had they turned their backs, the figure struck, a small wound in their side that was weeping out blood, but otherwise appeared to be fine.

The leader just managed to save his skin as the scythe came flying at them, knocking his other partner away with a loud cry that was silenced by the tree he impacted with at an angle.

pulling out his blade and activating the razor sharp magical edge, he parried the large and cumbersome scythe away, and tried to thrust his sword into the wounded target, but it jumped out of range before re-engaging.

he was more than surprised that the scythe managed to stand up to his blades strikes, as his own weapon had been known to cut straight though solid steel before.

He was also greatly surprised at just how mobile the figure was with the otherwise large and unwieldly weapon, under normal circumstances he didn't know anyone that could spin something so large so easily to continue countering his attacks, even some of the professional mercenaries he knew.

Just as he thought he saw an opening in the figure's guard, his weapon was parried wide, and the head of the scythe was shoved into his stomach, making him deathly aware of the gun barrel at the end of the long rod, and the way the figure was holding a trigger halfway up the grip.

now that the combat had ended, he began to notice some things about his opponent. most importantly, was just how small they were.

standing and what could be no more than 4'6", he could almost not believed just how nimble he was with the weapon, the scythe having to be over 6' tall, more than two feet taller than his opponent was.

any other things he could glean about his opponent were lost as he found the wind knocked out of him, and he fell to the ground in a heap, knocked unconscious by the small figure in his moment of distraction, a rookie mistake.

Sighing in relief, she let her scythe collapse back into it's portable form, and slipped it back into the holster hanging from her waist, before wincing as the pain from the bullet wound at her waist made itself known to her.

bringing a hand up to apply pressure to the wound, she cursed out her stupidity for even getting hit in what should have been a simple disabling fight, but now long where she was for her foolish mistake.

Limping away from the group of unconscious men, she sent up a signal for the hunters of the school, just as she had for the last four teams she had found roaming the forest, and deigned to return to her room, needing to deal with the new hole in her torso before morning, and at least try to get a little sleep.

tomorrow would not be an easy day, she could already tell from the pain in her gut, but that could be the bullet wound talking.

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Ruby groaned to herself as she came back into reality that morning, hearing a loud banging from the door to her dormitory room, the scattered clothing on the floor reminding her that she needed to make time to clean up some time after classes.

lifting herself from the bed, the young 15 year old winced from a small pain in her hip, and brought a hand down to hold her side, where some bandages were wrapped, peeking out from beneath the white tank top she had worn to bed that night.

stepping out onto the carpeted floor barefoot, the girl hobbled towards the door, rubbing sleep from her silver eyes, dressed in only the white tank top, which failed to hide much of her pale skin, and a pair of red and black shorts.

Opening the door just as a yawn snuck out through her lips, the girl practically yawned into the face of the blonde haired girl the stood there, lightly glaring at her for something she was unaware of.

"Ruby finally! I've been knocking at your door on and off all day, and Schnee has been absolutely livid!" Yang shouted, though her face softened at just how cute the younger girl looked in just her sleeping clothes, the cute yawn only adding to the picture, as well as her slightly dishevelled dark red hair.

"Yang, what are you talking about?" The younger girl asked, still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes while attempting to pay attention to her blonde friend's answer.

"What am I talking about!" The older girl started, but quickly calmed, her face breaking out into a large smile, "I'm talking about the fact that you've slept away all morning, and missed all of your morning classes."

"W-what!" The younger girl exclaimed, and quickly slammed the door shut in her elders face before she could explain the message to her, beginning to scramble around her room in search of suitable clothing for the day.

Unimpeded by the slammed door, Yang let herself into the room, and took a quick look around at the mess of the floor, as well as all of the small trinkets scattered around her desk, nightstand, and headboard, barely paying attention as her so-called little sister began to change, uncaring of the older girl watching.

"Wow little sis, you could stand to clean this place once in a while," The blonde commented casually, keeping her eyes away from her little sister pointedly, knowing that the younger girl was rather easily embarrassed.

"I know, but we've been so busy with classes, and Weiss is a slave driver when it comes to practice, and all out team training and I just don't have enough time," the excitable younger girl replied, and Yang winced as she heard the girl hit the floor, groaning.

"Maybe you should calm down, before you really hurt yourself little sis," Yang added, and though she couldn't see it, she was sure Ruby was nodding back at her.

finally the 15 year old was fully dressed, and rushed out of the room with nary a thought, Yang still standing in the middle of her room, tapping her fingers on her arm and waiting patiently.

When her sister came dashing back into the room, Yang was already ready, holding up the belt and holder for the girls beloved gun scythe, and was unsurprised by the strong hug she received from the red-haired girl.

"C'mon Yang, we need to go and meet Blake and Weiss, before she yells our ears off again!" Ruby shouted, once more dashing out of the room.

Yang was slightly more leisurely leaving the room, but she stopped for a moment, a feeling in her gut causing her to turn towards her self-proclaimed little sister's bed, and noticed a roll of bandages peeking out from underneath, mostly hidden in the inky blackness beneath.

Finally leaving the quarters and turning off the lights, Yang had one final thought in mind 'who are you really Ruby Rose, and what haven't you told us so far?' But these were thoughts for another day.

Right now she had an adoptive little sister and two team-mates to harass.


	2. Day to Day

15 Year Old Ruby Rose had to look back on her life in this moment, and wonder just what she might have done to anger the goddess in a previous life, for her to be forced to put up with this right now.

Currently, the young auburn-haired girl was sitting in the large dining hall, head cradled in her hands, trying to fight off the headache she could feel culminating...

as she listened to her well-meaning older sister figure, and her white-haired team-mate argue, about her, while she was sitting not two feet away from them, at the top of their lungs. She had to wonder if they were merely trying to drown out the other's voice at this point, and if they had all but forgotten what they were arguing about in the first place.

Beside her, 17-year old Blake Belladonna remained distracted by her book, amber eyes slowly skimming the page, though Ruby had to wonder if perhaps she was paying some, very small attention to the arguement at hand, if only for a chance to interject herself into the conversation and, if Ruby's hopes could be realized, stop this shouting match before it became physical.

Groaning as the two got even louder, Ruby buried her head into her arms, which she had rearranged onto the table the four had taken as their own, silently begging for someone to interrupt them.

Thankfully a miracle appeared, though in hindsight, it was far from the kind Ruby would have wished for, and she felt rather sorry for The poor boy afterwards.

Jaune Arc, considered among most of the remaining teams as one of the most inexperienced hunters-to-be, and quite possibly the densest boy around (as if anyone could miss the crush Pyrrha Nikos had on him), had decided this was the perfect chance to take another shot at woo-ing Weiss Schnee, and Ruby noticed, with mild amusement that everyone else was quickly evacuating the dining hall.

'Smart of them, since Weiss is already wound up from arguing with Yang all morning,' Ruby mused to herself.

Though she wasn't paying that much attention, she did pick up key words from Jaune's pick up lines, including what had become one of his favorites, "snow princess," which only seemed to infuriate the heiress further.

attention now diverted away from Yang for a few minutes, Ruby winced as all of Weiss' simmering anger finally burst on the poor guy, and The three members of team RWBY watched in mild fascination as The shnee heiress, probably the weakest physically of the four team-members, lifted the table they had been sitting at, and clobbered poor Jaune with it.

Yang whistled in amusement as the Poor boy was sent flying, straight out the expensive (and probably imported) stained glass windows that decorated the room, through a tree, and from the look of it, all the way out into the emerald forest, before he began to lose speed.

Weiss had in that time set the table back down, took a seat, and began sipping from a cup of tea that Blake handed to her, which Ruby had only noticed she had been holding onto at that point.

all three winced (though it was hard to tell with Blake) as they heard Jaune's pitiful cry as he obviously touched ground.

"OH GOD WHY!"

"Serves that idiot right," Weiss mumbled, and though she felt bad, Ruby did have to silently agree, Jaune needed to stop harassing Weiss, it couldn't be good for his continued health.

"Well, that was...eventful," Yang said in an attempt to break the silence. NOne of them bothered to respond.

Finally finishing her cup of tea, Weiss was quick to excuse herself from the group, claiming that she needed to get in at least some training, inciting Yang's fury once more as they all knew she was silently adding "because the lot of you aren't good enough," but between Ruby and Blake, they managed to keep the blonde-haired girl from beginning another argument.

Once the white-haired girl had left the room, Ruby was also quick to excuse herself, though she did it much more tactfully.

"I just realized I forgot something in my room, and that I have some homework to finish, so I'll catch up with you guys later, okay?" Ruby explained, though she knew that neither would really mind her ditching.

"Fine, just be sure to show up later this evening for practice little sis, or there will be concequences," Yang's threat hung over her head, but Ruby was...mostly sure she was just teasing.

Blake simply nodded in her general direction, not even taking her focus away from the book that she continued to read nearby in her own little world.

Ruby was quick to escape from the room, taking note as people slowly trickled back in, the notice of the broken window gaining attention, along with the bent table the most volatile team of the year was sitting at, and were probably beginning to put two and two together.

This only increased her need to escape from the room, before the intrusive questions began.

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Weiss sighed and wiped her brow clear of sweat, as she sheathed Myrtenaster, and took a look over her progress of the day.

Nearby, two training dummies were carved into pieces, large incisions and deep gouges were cut into the thick wood, as well as small burn marks, and some frost along one of them.

'Not a bad day's practice at all, though I now need to refill the dust cartridges before our evening training begins,' The white-haired girl reminded herself, groaning internally as she recalled meaning to spend time with her personal demons, Ruby and Yang.

Oh well, she supposed this was a test of her patience in the face of adversity, an invaluable talent in the life of a huntress, and one she would have to understand and master sooner or later. If only it didn't mean fearing for her life constantly at the hands of the red-haired brute and her overzealous older sister.

Turning to the windows, Weiss found she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched, and had found, while she was working out, that the feeling remained in the back of her mind, as if someone was staring far too intently at her, and was gently throwing off her usual battle rhythm.

trying to catch a glimpse of her elusive stalker, Weiss came up with nothing, as immediately after she entered the training grounds, everyone else seemed to make themselves scarce, and there appeared to be no one outside at this time.

Shrugging and turning away, she decided to go for a fifth round with the training dummies, reminding herself that she could always use more practice, especially if she was going to survive the next four years surrounded by two idiots, and Blake.

All the while unaware of the red-cloaked guardian angel watching over her from a nearby tree branch, quietly observing and making sure that no harm would come to her charge, as long as she still breathed.

if only it wasn't so hard sometimes with the way that her charge seemed to detest her presence.


	3. Omake 1 Team JNPR

He groaned while slowly lifting himself from the burning crater he had formed in landing, and immediately proceeded to check himself over.

After confirming all of his limbs appeared to still be attached, and his weapon was somehow, miraculously still with him (He wouldn't put it past fate to have it go flying while he was airborne, she did have a wicked sense of humour,) He began to try and figure out where he was exactly.

From the look of the tall trees, and thick fog, He quickly knew he was back, somewhere, within the emerald forest, and more than likely, hopelessly lost.

"Well just great," He groaned, sinking to his knees, and wincing as he kneeled into a briar patch, "Looks like I'm going to miss dinner again."

"Might as well not just sit here, and try to find my way back to the school," He groused, and began to walk in the direction he could only hope was towards the school, trying to use the direction his crater began from as a marker.

While he walked, his mind began to wander a bit, back to what had once again incited the wrath of his Snow princess (though he knew she detested that nickname, and it could easily cause her to burst into berserker rages), and she had all but sent him flying, with a table.

Not to be confused, this wasn't the strangest way he had been rejected, no, that spot still belonged to that one, awkward night in the club where he had both had his first intimate (and awkward) encounter with a woman's bosoms, and the night he found out that women were very, very scary.

That also turned into the first night he would be put into the hospital for trying to pick up a lady, much to his parents amusement.

Well at least this time he didn't have a concussion, and hadn't been judo thrown through a brick wall...several brick walls, actually, and he could actually remember what happened.

Jaune continued his walk back towards the school in silence, lost in his thoughts for a while, until he stopped dead in his tracks as a loud "Thunk" echoed nearby.

Heart feeling as if it stopped, Jaune tried to pinpoint the sound, and quickly realized, as he noticed a large spear, a very familiar large spear, sunk deep into the wood of a tree right in front of him, which had barely missed his head by mere inches. He was almost convinced it had sliced a few strands of hair from his head that time.

"Oh Jaune I'm sorry, I guess I should have aimed a little better," The ever-familiar sound of Pyrrha Nikos' voice echoed through the quiet forest, her understanding green eyes and soothing voice stopping most of his worries almost instantly.

"Oh...that's okay Pyrrha, no harm done," He tried to reason, even as a nervous laugh escaped from between his lips at the near death experience.

"I told you that we'd find him if we followed Pyrrha, didn't I just tell you Ren, didn't I?" The amusing sound of Nora's ranting further comforted the leader of team JNPR, who failed to notice as Pyrrha retrieved her spear, and stored away her weapons.

"Yes, but I would like to know how you managed to land all the way out here, all we heard was your...familiar screaming, and a faint black figure going flying away from the school towards the emerald forest, before Pyrrha was in action," Ren's calmness in the situation finished off the group's usual aura, and Jaune had to grin sheepishly as he tried to formulate an answer.

"Well Y'see..." He began, but Ren quickly held up his hand, asking for silence, and a knowing smile flashing across his features.

"Don't worry, it's fairly obvious, and none of us blame you for it, we heard about the damage to the dining hall's windows just before Pyrrha had us move out to hunt for you. Weiss Schnee is a very intimidating adversary," Ren explained calmly.

"Yeah, I'm amazed that Ruby can even manage with Weiss' grumpy-tude, those two just don't seem like the type to be able to get along, and could you even imagine if they ever were honest with their feelings for one another, uhh, the thought alone is just scary."

"Wait...honest with their feelings?" Jaune asked, only catching the tail end of Nora's rant, as he had been quickly teaching himself to over the last few weeks, a talent Ren had all but encouraged the other members of their team to exercise, learned himself from years of being friends with the powerhouse.

"Yeah, can't you tell just how much their emotions are repressed around each other, and all of that tension between them. Why do you think that Weiss is always yelling at Ruby?" Nora asked, gaining the attention of all three members of team JNPR.

"You know, I think that perhaps Nora is on to something, those two are always in an argument about something, though most of the time it seems Weiss is the one that instigates them," Pyrrha began, the gears turning in their minds.

"And The other members of the team are also constantly worked up whenever those two are in close proximity to one another, especially when Ruby's older sister is present," Ren added as an afterthought.

"So you think that, maybe, the reason Weiss and Ruby are always arguing is because they like each other? and are both not admitting it?" Jaune asked, feeling left behind in the conversation.

Pyrrha and Ren shared a look before they turned to their third team-mate, and each had a solemn look on their faces.

"Most likely," The pair chimed in unison.

Meanwhile Nora had all but diverted her attention away from the conversation she had started, and was chasing a butterfly around the clearing, with the intent of showing her best friend the wonderful colours.


	4. Past moonlight

He watched for several moments as she continued with her training, his experienced eyes catching even the smallest error in her form, as she swung the practice weapon towards the ground once more.

Finally deciding that he had seen enough for once, the tall man quietly unlatched the door, and entered the large, circular room, with it's glowing white lights that circled around it, reminding him, impeccably, of a large circus tent of grey and white.

"Your stance is still far too wide, and you continue to stiffen your arms as you swing," He casually commented as he approached the young girl.

Immediately he noticed her tensing up, and the way her back instantly straightened to the point he though she may have shoved a metal pole down the back of her shirt, but he brushed this off to circled around the girl several times, much like a hawk circling it's prey.

"I am beginning to think that perhaps we have given you the wrong weapon to practice with, and maybe you would be better suited to a Focusing weapon, in the back of a team," his comment was meant to be rather monotonous, but the way the girl stiffened further made him wince slightly, knowing he was being rather harsh on her.

For a five year old, she had picked up his training relatively quickly, and largely without argument.

"Please Uncle, I know I can do this, just let me keep working on it!" The girl pleaded, the lightweight practice sword lying forgotten upon the ground at her feet, her hands now clenched together tightly, his eyes absently noting her knuckles beginning to go white due to how hard she was squeezing them together.

"Now Dear, I didn't mean anything by it, and I know how strongly you feel about being a frontline fighter, I am sorry," He said, kneeling down, and threading his fingers into the girl's short hair, hoping to relay some comfort to her, "But there is still much work to be done before you are ready to even fight a monster."

"I'll keep trying Uncle, I'll get better, I'll practice even more if I have to!" The girl replied, her eyes locking with his, and he noted the fire that was burning within, telling him silently that the girl spoke the truth. She was anything if not dedicated, and that struck a chord within him.

"My dear, perhaps we are right in assuming blades are not your weapon of choice," He lifted his hand quickly to assure she would not interrupt him with another outburst, "Maybe we should try other weapons first, and see which is best suited to you, before we continue with your training."

The girl looked up at him in minor confusion, but the wide grin that spread out across her face assured him that she would go along with his plan with little fuss.

Now he just needed to find out what weapon she was best suited for, and perhaps they could make some more progress.

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There she stood again, a near pinnacle of confidence as she swung her new weapon about with near expert precision, albeit only to the untrained eye.

He allowed himself entry quietly, and continued to watch her, his mind harkening back to days long past, of his own youthful dances with such a deadly and particular weapon, and the beautifully destructive paths he would carve through his enemies.

There was such grace to be had when wielding a weapon of the reaper, and his niece seemed to have a natural flair for it, though there was still much improvement to be made to her form.

"You have improved by leaps and bounds in the last few years my dear, and I must say that your form is impeccable," He announced his presence with a level voice, and noticed with some amusement, as she nearly stumbled over herself in surprise.

"Ah, uncle, I didn't hear you come in," she replied, sheepishly scratching the back of her head, her weapon hanging from one hand, pointed away from him as she'd been taught.

"As you shouldn't, my skills in the silent assassination have not fallen nearly enough for me to be caught by someone who still has much training left to accomplish," His comment, he noticed, stung her pride slightly, but both knew that she was far from perfect, it had been the first lesson he taught her, before allowing her to pick up her first weapon.

"Yes sir," She responded, now holding her weapon in front of her with both hands, eyes facing the ground, and awaiting what he must have wanted to say to her, for interrupting her practice.

"Before we speak, may I ask to borrow your weapon?" he was pleased that she hid her shock, another lesson he had taught her was that a weapon was sacred to the wielder, and borrowing another's weapon was almost strictly taboo.

"Yes Uncle, just be careful with her," The girl held out her weapon meekly, and he smiled, she had grown up very well in such a short amount of time, and her trust in him was also well-received.

Taking the weapon, his trained mind quickly catalogued everything about it, from the weight in his hands, to the exact length, to just how sharp the blade was.

"It is indeed a fine weapon, and I am proud of you for creating something so great," He commented idly, noting her beaming face across from him, which also made him smile slightly.

"You may want to stand back my dear, I feel an old dance coming on, and I would not want you to get injured," He warned. She squeaked in response, and quickly excused herself from the room, knowing that this would be an important step in her training, and that it would also be dangerous to remain inside along with her talented uncle.

He began slowly, simply swinging the weapon around in his hands, obviously getting a feel for it's unfamiliar weight, before he tried a few practice swings with it. She could see the scowl on his face as something came out wrong, and he began the process over again.

This time when he swung, he seemed pleased by it, and continued the dance silently, this time going into a large spin over his head before slicing downwards towards the ground, only veering the blade away at the last second.

She wasn't worried, her uncle treated all weapons with respect, and he would never damage anyone else's weapon intentionally. Unintentionally was nearly impossible for him as well, he had done this for so long she doubted there were many mistakes left for him to make.

after a few more swings of the long weapon, she noticed her uncle beginning another round of the dance, and watched in bright fascination as he took one step forward, swung the blade in a wide arc, before stepping back, pivoting on his heel, and swung the entire weapon around him, causing her to gasp.

It truly was like a dance, she would later admit to herself, a beautiful dance of destruction, much like her uncle would wax poetically about. The way he moved his body along with the weapon was nothing short of fluid, much like water, and his strikes were precise and always fatal.

After several minutes, he finally seemed to come to a stop, mid-step, with the weapon poised for a vertical slice, that would have torn asunder anyone in his path, when his bright yellow eyes shot up, and looked directly at her.

She wasn't sure what he was looking at for a moment, before she felt the presence behind her, and turned to face the intruder into their training room.

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She sat there, with her weapon cradled in her lap, listening as her uncle continued to speak to the man, though she couldn't make out any of the words they were saying, and her ability to lip read was failing her at this moment, as they kept their mouths out of her sight.

Finally the two seemed to be finished, and both turned to face her, making her back straighten once more, and hold onto her weapon a little tighter. She knew that the scowl upon her uncle's face wouldn't mean anything good, but she was prepared for whatever it might be.

She was a Rose, after all. And she was ready to show the world her thorns.


	5. daylight

"So little sis, I heard that the teachers caught a bunch of terrorists outside the school the other day, anything you know about that?" Yang asked idly one afternoon, while the two were just sitting around, trying to find something to do in the spacious class lounge.

Ruby, to her credit, managed to avoid the nearly inevitable spit-take that would have covered poor Jaune in hot chocolate (The poor guy just did not seem to have any luck), and she swallowed her mouthful of the hot beverage in one large gulp before turning to look at her "older sister"

"What are you talking about Yang? Why would I know anything about a break-in?" The younger redhead asked nervously, though she tried her best to keep it off of her face.

The two looked at each other for several minutes, bright silver meeting smooth lilac, before Yang broke eye contact and began to laugh, sounding like a crazed hyena, and startling everyone else in the room. Ruby noticed out of the corner of her eye when Nora ended up spitting her hot tea in Jaune's face, which made her wince, so much for that bout of luck.

"I was just kidding sis, as if you would know anything about it, I only heard from one of the upperclassmen about it like an hour ago," The blonde teased, ruffling her junior's hair into a dishevelled mess, which made the 15 year old groan in playful annoyance.

"But seriously, I heard that they picked up like four or five groups that had been laid out across the forest by an unknown vigilante," Yang continued, now apparently more serious, "and apparently, they were all members of that terrorist group, the Grimm."

Ruby's posture straightened slightly as she heard the absolute venom in her older-sister-figure's tone as she hissed out Grimm, which alerted her to there being something between the blonde and said terrorists.

"Umm Yang, did something happen between you and the..." But before the dense redhead could complete her question, they were abruptly interrupted.

"Never fear, Nora's here!" The pink-haired girl announced, popping up between the two sisters, and conveniently ending the conversation before it could begin, which Ruby noted Yang seemed to be relieved about.

"Nora!"

"Ah hah, sorry Ren!" The girl said, and proceeded to skip away, her work here obviously done, though Ruby was unsure of what the clever distraction had actually been for. Had she meant to do it to interrupt her asking about the Grimm, or was Nora just that off-the-wall random.

Regardless, the redhead shrugged as she followed her sister out into the hall, where she had begun to retreat while Ruby was lost in thought. So much so that it was a surprise when she found herself barrelled over, and in the end, at the very bottom of a RWBY sandwich, consisting of herself, Weiss, Jaune (she wondered when he had wandered off, and how he had found her charge), Yang, and on the top were the ever graceful Pyrrha and Blake, one smiling sheepishly down on the group, the other still engrossed in her book, though she continued to perch on top of her partner carelessly.

Ruby groaned, and realized almost offhandedly that she tasted copper in her mouth, alerting her to the fact that in her surprise, she'd obviously bitten down on her tongue. She brushed that off for the moment to try and take in everyone's feelings for the impromptu dog pile.

Weiss looked ready to blow up, that was unsurprising, as she had the full weight of Jaune, Yang, and two other girls on top of her (despite their sizes, it turned out both Blake and Pyrrha were rather heavy), and was about ready to start shouting. Jaune seemed none the worse for wear, though he seemed off-balance after his tumble, and was less than likely to be getting up any time soon.

Unfortunately, it was Yang who got around to blowing up first, and both girls were smart enough to get off before they were flame-broiled by the pyromaniac street fighter super Saiyan.

"What the hell was that supposed to be!" Yang shouted, Ruby noting with amusement how it echoed down the hallway, with made her giggle a bit. 'Oh great' she thought to herself, 'I may also have a minor concussion.'

"Well, if you must know," Weiss haughty tone sounded from above Ruby, which made her giggle again, but she was pointedly ignored by her partner, "This idiot came running at me, unaware that the floors had been recently waxed, and ended up falling all over me, and then we continued to slide across the floor, these two," Ruby was sure that Weiss intended to point at Pyrrha and Blake, but she was too busy staring out the window at the interesting colour the autumn leaves were, "chased after us, and then we ran into you two."

"Well that is a lovely story princess, but I have one problem with this..." Yang began, and Ruby raised an eyebrow at that comment, then began to giggle about it, "How did I end up on top of Jaune here, when I came out of the door before Ruby did?"

"I..." Weiss began, and everyone waited with bated breath for her explanation...which never came, "I don't know..."

"I would just blame your expert dodging skills," Blake commented, without looking up from her book, same Blake as usual, that was a good sign, Ruby mused.

"Sure, let's go with that," The blonde said, waving her hand as if she were warding away a fly.

"Ooh, that looks like fun, can I join in?" Nora seemed to pop up out of nowhere again, looking upon the aptly named RWBY sandwich with a childlike eagerness.

"No!" Weiss and Yang shouted simultaneously, both obvious more than a little upset at being bowled over, and crushed today, "And would a certain idiot get off of me already, I have places to be that are not here!" Weiss continued to snap, though Yang seemed to be pointedly ignoring her at this point.

"Yeah, yeah," Yang said, climbing off of the group, just as Nora seemed to decide it was worth it, and practically swan dived onto the pile, making the people beneath her groan. If Ruby thought that Blake and Pyrrha weighed a lot, Nora was like a cinderblock.

"Nora, if you do not get off of us in the next five seconds, then I swear that I am going to..." Whatever Weiss was going to threaten the girl with would go unheeded, as that was the moment Yang realized her "baby sis" was at the bottom of the pile, and the poor small 15 year old was probably being crushed by the heiress' butt.

"Oh god sis, don't worry, I'll save you," Yang announced in a surprisingly touching tone of panic, and before everyone's eyes, basically threw Weiss, Jaune, and Nora off of the redhead, much to their displeasure.

Ruby didn't really get to see where they landed, but judging by the loud "Oh God," she could only assume that Jaune ended up hitting something, the "Ta-dah" meant that Nora had landed on her feet (she honestly needed to remember to ask that girl if she wasn't at least part cat, with how nimble she was), and the huff that Weiss let out could only mean that Blake had come to her rescue and prevented the rest of the team from listening to her complain for the rest of the day.

After helping her sister up, brushing her down, and patting her head, Yang began to notice something wrong with the girl, something rather obvious, "Err Ruby, why are your eyes all un-focused?"

Ruby's giggling at her sister's question was cause for concern, but it only got worse when Blake spoke up and pointedly explained exactly what was wrong, "She has a concussion Yang."

This explanation seemed to cause something to ignite in the blonde-haired girl, as everyone (except Ruby, who was once again staring out the window idly) watched her begin to breath faster, and go slightly more pale, nearly enough to match Ruby's skin tone.

"Yang," Blake began slowly, "You do not want to begin panicking now, when Ruby should really go and see a doctor," The girl stated slowly, as if speaking to a young child, but it seemed to get through to the blonde, who snapped back to attention, though her hands were still shaking slightly.

"R-right, C'mon Ruby, let's take you to the Care centre and get you checked out," Yang said in a somewhat stable voice, which convinced no one of her being okay, but only Blake filed that information away for later interrogations, when their team-mate was more herself.

IN a blink, both the knocked-silly redhead, and her hyperventilating blonde sibling were gone from the hallway, and Blake would almost admit to seeing burning skid marks going down the hallway, in the direction the two had gone.

"Ugh, why must I be paired with the strangest people," Weiss moaned, bringing a hand to her forehead.

"You know snow angel, I bet if I talked to the headmaster, he could make an exception and have you put on team JNPR," Jaune replied, never missing a beat.

Weiss' reaction to this pick-up was rather amusing, Blake would later admit, as the white-haired girl groaned, nearly punched the boy, but Pyrrha stepped forward to stop her.

"Abusing my team-mate for trying to be nice will not be tolerated Weiss," The redhead warned in a surprisingly dangerous tone, especially considering the girl's normal casual response to anything.

Weiss huffed again at the girl's threat, and instead of punching the boy like she'd planned to, instead she turned towards the door, and went inside without another sound, though Blake was sure she would be leaving again shortly in order to blow off some steam in the training room once again.

"Well, that was a...thing," Jaune said, Laughing weakly in an attempt to lighten the mood, but only Nora seemed to laugh with him.

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Ruby sat there in minor discomfort, wearing only a white tank top, and the shorts she wore beneath her dress, as per the orders of the nurse, face slightly red, and hands in her lap.

After being rushed in by her well-meaning older sister, the blonde had been all but ordered out of the room, and Ruby was told to lose the dress, so she could be taken care of. Of course that went about as well as can be expected from a 15 year old trained to fight monsters.

Now she was just sitting here, waiting for the doctor to come back and tell her to take it easy (hah, as if) for a few days, and being sent back to the dorm.

Ruby was so bored sitting within the white room, that she instantly locked onto her "older sister" as she snuck back into the room, looking around cautiously, probably making sure the "mean old doctor" wasn't around to throw her out again.

Then her eyes widened as she came to a realization, and began looking around frantically for her dress, refusing to let Yang see her like this, for fear of her becoming overprotective, as she'd seen the blonde a few times since she had come to beacon.

Alas, it seemed that the doctor had taken Ruby's dress, as well as her cloak, along with her, probably to deter her from leaving the room while she waited (Smart woman, when Ruby wasn't fearing for her life, she would have to learn something from that lady, especially when she wasn't currently one of her patients).

Resorting to the bed covers, Ruby all but burrowed underneath the uncomfortable blankets, and tried to hide from her big sister in fear, hoping against hope that she hadn't noticed anything while she was skulking about, and it could just be a quiet visit, before the two could go back to the dorms.

Alas, it turned out Jaune's luck had all but rubbed off on her today (she blamed the dog pile...and the concussion), as Yang's eyes hardened as she reached the bed, and her usually pretty lilac eyes became a bloody red.

Tearing the sheets away from the girl, Yang's fierce gaze looked over the underdressed 15-year old (at least in her own opinion, sadistic Doctors), and hardened further as she saw her bare arms and legs.

"Ruby," she began slowly, making the girl tense up, and attempt to prepare for the inevitable, "Where did all of those scars come from?"


	6. A New Day is Dawning

Sitting here, Ruby had to admit she was pretty lucky. Before she had to answer Yang's intrusive question, The doctor had returned, and quickly shooed the blonde away, before giving it to Ruby that she should be careful about further head injuries, and to take it easy, as per her expectations.

After handing the girl back her things, The doctor left, claiming that she heard something about a boy tripping over his own two feet down a flight of stairs (Ruby had an idea who it was, but had a bit more hope in her friend than to immediately voice it), and Ruby took this chance to bail from the room, before her sister could get on her case. Albeit through the unorthodox method of the nearby window, which she was thankful the doctor had left open.

Now here she was again, in the closest tree to the windows of the training room, watching her charge work out her anger on several wooden dummies, making short work of them with her dust-powered weapon.

Ruby didn't blame the blonde for being worried, She didn't like thinking about her scars either, most of them were bad memories of mistakes she had made, especially back when she was younger, and that was why she wore the long-sleeved dress most of the time, but sometimes it was hard to forget what she'd done.

She knew that Yang meant well, and was indeed just being an overprotective elder to the girl, but Ruby wished she hadn't learned about this at all, as this could easily compromise everything, and that was the last thing that the girl wanted right now. She was enjoying herself here, and despite Blake's aloofness, and Weiss' attitude, she liked her team.

If it did come down to it, she would spill to yang, she was smarter than that, Lying to the girl that had only meant and done well by her would never sit well with Ruby, especially after all of her uncle's teachings, and most of the information were simple recounts, nothing overly important.

But there were a few secrets she would rather not share with anyone, especially not her uncle, and she found her hand slipping down to rest on her stomach, where the skin was sensitive and a large scar remained, as her thoughts darkened. to a worse time in her life, when she truly thought that she was dead.

The girl was snapped from her thoughts though, when she heard the snapping of branches nearby, which instantly put her on alert, knowing that very few people would ever approach the training room when Weiss was within, and even those that would wouldn't be outside to do it.

Lowering a hand to Crescent Rose, Ruby prepared to attack, unsure if it was friend or foe, but willing to bet they were a hostile.

and Hostiles were to be destroyed.

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Bandits, that was all her uncle had told her about what happened to her mother. Bandits had come and "got her" as he explained to the three year old. Looking back on it she would laugh about how he tried to explain it.

But all she understood now was that her Mother was gone, and bad people were the cause of her corpse, and their burning house. And she wanted people like them to pay.

She relayed all of this to her Uncle, and though at first he seemed "funny" about it, he eventually agreed, and told her she would begin lessons the following week.

And what a week that had been, as the mourning girl, left alone in what she only saw as a big metal box, allowed her mind to wander, and allowed her feet to lead her about the "facility," as her uncle called it.

the floor was cold on her bare feet, was the first thing she noticed upon leaving the room, and the ceiling was glowing funny. It was also far too bright, so she quickly averted her eyes away, and continued following the long hallway, wherever it might lead.

The three year old continued to walk for what felt like an eternity, but finally she stopped, her attention piqued by a door, different from the rest. There was a big light upon it, which was glowing a pretty shade of red.

Reaching out, the girl's fingered brushed against the door, and she squeaked as it quickly slid up to permit her entrance, the young girl snapping her hand back against her chest in surprise.

The room beyond looked dark, but she was a brave girl, and stepped into the inky blackness, keeping one hand against the wall as a way of keeping track of herself, and began to follow this new hallway.

A set of stairs offered only a minor distraction, and she was quick to conquer them, cheering a little in her head as she jumped down the final step, proud of herself for some reason, but quickly returned to her task of following this hallway, which she did realize was dimly lit by lights, like the ones in the ceiling, only they weren't as strong.

Finally a door came into view, a big, glassy door that offered anyone a view into the room, and the girl's interest was piqued in a moment.

Running up to the door, the girl nearly tripped over her feet in her haste, but made it without any injuries, barely noticing that the glass door was connected to what seemed like a large sitting room, many benches, a table, and even a big plant were sitting about. But her attention was focused solely on the door, and that was what she was going to see first, she'd explore the rest of the room later.

Looking out through the glass, at first all she saw was another metal room with big lights, but then she began to notice small differences, like the lack of sharp corners, and her uncle in the middle of it, along with what looked like a bunch of monsters.

She also quickly notice the long stick he was swinging around, and was confused when she saw one of the "monsters" torn in half, not even flinching at the blood splatter, or the new corpse that hit the ground before dissolving into what looked like black feathers, though he seemed unbothered by it, and continued to swing his "stick" around, beheading another monster, and tearing a third asunder from head to groin.

It was with great fascination that the girl continued to watch, awed by the interesting fighting, and the way her Uncle seemed to glide about the room, destroying everything in his path without even touching them.

Unfortunately it seemed that she pushed too hard on the door, as it slid away from her, and she fell to the ground with a soft "oof" of surprise, also startling her uncle, who nearly lost his footing, and only just managed to behead another of the monsters.

"Computer, shut down," He ordered calmly, and she noted that all of the monsters seemed to go stiff, and then went all pixel-y, before disappearing completely.

"How did you find your way down here, I was sure that I locked that door, and ordered the computer to let no one pass through," He asked the girl softly, though the way his eyes were hardened worried and scared her a little, and she didn't have an answer for his about the door.

"I'm sorry Uncle, I was bored, so I went exploring, and found that door with the pretty light, and I touched it, and then it disappeared...and I followed the path down here," The girl answered honestly, one of those things her mother had taught her.

The man's face softened slightly at the girl's honestly, and innocence, and with a small smile his stick seemed to shrink, until it was like a big thermos, and he shoved it into his back pocket, before lifting the girl up.

"My dear, what you saw, did it amaze you?" He asked, curious about the bright light in her eyes.

"It was so pretty Uncle, it was like you were dancing with those monsters, and the way they fell down, without you touching them," She would have continued to babble, if he hadn't gently placed a hand to her lips to silence her.

"Well, if we are going to get you ready to beat up bad men like the ones that took your mother," She didn't notice the way his tone dropped as he hissed the last part out, "Eventually we are going to get to weapon training."

"You mean I might be able to do what you were doing Uncle!" The girl asked in excitement, her eyes lighting up and bringing another smile to his own lips.

"Yes my dear, someday you might be able to do exactly what I was, if you have the talent for it. But first we need to go over theory, and there are many things that I need to teach you before you can even think of lifting up a weapon," He explained to the 3-year old, who he noticed began to pout, puffing out her cheeks like balloons.

Laughing he continued, "But perhaps that is enough fighting for now, I think that both of us could stand for a bite to eat, and then maybe I will begin your training a bit early, you seem more than eager to learn," He said, and the girl cheered at the thought.

as the pair left the room, the lights down the rest of the hallway the girl had come through lit up brighter, illuminating the entire place, and perhaps, lightening the burden on an old heart, in the way that only a child can.

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Ruby's eyes widened as she came face to face, practically nose to nose in fact...with Nora. Correction, a smiling, much too happy Nora.

"Oh Ruby, there you are, Ren and I have been looking for you everywhere!" The pink-haired girl stated, her naturally perky voice making Ruby smile slightly.

"Sorry to intrude on you, but Nora," She noticed the way Ren glared at his team-mate and long time friend in playful annoyance, "Insisted that we invite you along with us into town."

"Ren, don't say it like that, or else she'll never agree," The pinkette chastised her team mate, who only groaned in mild annoyance, "Anyways, c'mon Ruby, let's go to town, forget this fuddy-duddy, he'll only slow us down!"

Ruby had no time to react as Nora grabbed her by the arm, and began to drag her away from her perch, all the while the redhead continued to try and argue with the 17 year old futilely.

Ren took a few extra seconds to take note of Ruby's odd perch, and how it had an almost unobstructed view into the training room, where only a white-haired girl was busy venting her anger on several training dummies.

Shrugging the topic off, He deigned not to care, as it was probably something Ruby would share in the future, if it was really so important. Though, he had to admit, it did seem rather suspicious, and did help Nora's theory of "tension" between the scythe and rapier wielders.

He would mention it to Blake later, she was the most level-headed of team RWBY, and as he'd found, an interesting like-minded person. The two could speak casually in a way that he couldn't with any of his team-mates, and he suspected the same of the Black-haired girl.

Not that he had anything against his team, it's just that they didn't always think before they acted, Nora especially, he groaned.

"C'mon Ren!" Nora cried, and he could only imagine how far away she'd wandered with the wayward scythe-wielder.

"Yes Nora," He replied monotonously, the thoughts in his head tumbling around, wanting out. But he would have to wait until later.

Getting away from Nora was nearly impossible when she was in one of these moods.


	7. Twilight

A/N: just a little warning before we begin this chapter, for your own safety.

This chapter contains what I see as heart-wrenching drama between two characters we have all grown to love in the last 10 weeks, and as such, may be hard to read for some people especially sensitive to this kind of stuff. Please read responsibly, cause I'd feel bad if something I wrote depressed someone.

With that said, let us begin.

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Ruby couldn't believe her own luck for the last few days. After spending the entire afternoon out with Nora and Ren (whom she was thankful didn't try to ask her any intrusive questions, though Ren seemed far in thought through much of the day)She had been able to all but avoid seeing her adopted older sister, and thus, managed to avoid the inevitable explanation the older girl would probably be demanding of her.

It's not that she didn't love the girl, she loved Yang to pieces, but there was a lot that she had to protect, and much that she knew could come back to bite her, thus she, even with her own admittance that if push came to shove she would spill, her own instincts were hissing at her not to tell her elder, and those same instincts had saved her life time and again.

Unfortunately, as the red haired girl came down from her dorm room several days later, still trying to finish waking up before classes began, she noticed something new on the board posted out in the middle of the class lounge, which dropped ice into her veins.

"Team training day..." She whimpered, her nerves jumping up tenfold, and whatever thoughts she might have had about going to get breakfast forgotten as her stomach did an uncomfortable jump in her chest.

She was snapped out of her daze as a very familiar yawn echoed through the mostly empty room, bouncing out from upstairs, alerting her to the coming presence of her sister, and Ruby, panicking slightly, dashed from the room, only a brief flurry of rose petals left in her place, just as Yang came stumbling downstairs, the only inclination that her baby sister, her very elusive baby sister, had been around.

Growling to herself, Yang surveyed the room, before her eyes came upon the new notice upon the board, and a large grin began to overtake her face.

Nearby, Blake and Ren shared a look across from the two couches they had occupied, as a shiver ran down their spines, both of the sensible teens able to sense something bad was about to happen that would very soon be changing everything.

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Many teams stood around the training room, milling about, taking a look at the various, and expensive equipment that was set up, and for some, looking up and down at their potential opponents, trying to figure them out in advance.

Some groups kept to themselves, and tried not to make eye contact with the others. One group, Ruby noted, stood off in a corner by themselves, the three girls of the team seemingly having a quiet conversation amongst themselves, while the sole male of the team, appeared to be standing over the others protectively, but she couldn't place the four for the life of her, and didn't recognize them from the initiation.

Right now, her stomach was doing flips, and it was all because of the evil look Yang had been giving her ever since she stepped into the room, having been out practicing in preparation, to make sure her skills had not faltered while she was at beacon, guarding her charge.

Blake seemed to notice that something was up between the normally tight sisters, but she brushed it off, trying to keep her mindset on who her opponent might be, and how she would beat them without showing off that much of her skills.

Weiss seemed entirely uninterested in whatever was going on between the two as well, and was currently sitting on a number of mats, idly taking looks over at the training dummies, especially a very well-loved one with various gouges cut into the wood, and what looked like burn marks that trailed up and down the length of it.

Ruby gulped audibly as Professor Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch entered the room, the normally stoic woman once again holding her data-pad, and was probably going over their combat videos in order to better pair up groups for the combat simulation. She could only hope she wouldn't end up going against Yang, as the girl was more than furious with her.

"Ahem, we will keep this brief, and begin your test soon, but for now, I want all of you to remember one very important part of this particular event," Professor Ozpin began, his no-nonsense tone slightly easing Ruby's worries in that way it always had, letting her release a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, that was quite short lived, as Ozpin revealed where they would actually be handling this impromptu test.

"The emerald forest again!" Ruby cried out in surprising childishness, the other teams sparing her merely a glance before returning their attention to the headmaster.

"You are all warriors in training, and a live environment is far superior, with it's random landscapes, to a flat room, which will also help you with your combat acclimation," Ozpin explained casually.

"Not to mention the fact you don't want to replace any damage to the training room," Glynda muttered from nearby, but Ozpin casually ignored the woman, as he had learned to regarding her snide comments. He also mused on the thought of cutting her paycheck again, to see if that would perhaps make this stop.

Suffice to say, the cold as ice glare he saw the woman giving him out of the corner of his eye quickly caused him to rethink his plans, and further try to remind himself of who was the headmaster here.

"Regardless, miss Glynda and I have already devised the groups based on who we see as the greatest challenge against each other, taking into account weapon type, combat experience, and fighting style," Ozpin coughed once to try and clear the nerves he was feeling from the other woman's continued glare, "Our first match will be miss Ruby Rose Vs Miss Yang Xiao Long. Girls, if you would take your places. and miss Long, please do not overshoot your landing point this time."

"Yes professor," Yang said as she came to stand on the familiar springboard, offering the older man an embarrassed smile.

The two girls looked at each other, Ruby's nerves flaring again at the evil grin Yang shot her, and the way the older's normally pretty lilac eyes sharpened, and changed once again to that fiery blood red.

"Don't worry sis," She seemed to hiss the normally teasing moniker out, which only unnerved the girl further, "This will be fun!"

Ruby didn't agree with the girl, and she had a bad feeling that Yang was going to take this too seriously, and found her hand fly down to crescent rose just before the pair were launched out into the forest.

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'This is bad,' Ruby thought, as she continued to wander through the forest for what felt like hours, 'Yang is mad at me for avoiding her, mad at me for keeping secrets from her, and now she's probably ready to blast my head off my shoulders, she's so wound up.'

Not that she blamed the girl, She would be angry too if someone she thought cared about her was keeping something from her. She just wished it didn't have to be one of her biggest secrets, and one she could not risk explaining to the blonde.

A twig snapped nearby, and that was all the warning Ruby received before a flying red and yellow blur came at her. Jumping away from the charging blonde, Ruby whipped out her scythe, and parried two of the girl's attacks nearly effortlessly, though the sheer power behind the girl's melee strikes caused her arms to shake, and threatened to make her lose her grip on her weapon.

Jumping away, Ruby took in several deep breaths as she tried to regain her nerves, and make her arms stop shaking after the powerful opening attack, and took the time to try and see what mood Yang was in.

Her heart plummeted into her feet immediately. Her hair seemed to be all but floating, the fiery red aura surrounding her meant the girl was absolutely pissed, and her eyes were hard red slits, not unlike an angry Beowolf.

She gulped again as the other girl resumed her attack, closing the distance between the scythe wielder, and pressing down on her.

"I can't believe my own sister would keep secrets from me, especially after what we've been through," Ruby's mind took a moment to register the blonde's growling as actual words, and as she fumbled to try and simply dodge or block the blonde's attacks, she continued to listen to her ranting.

"I apologized, I've stuck up for you whenever Weiss mouths off at you, I've been trying to protect you ever since we came to beacon, and now, when I'm most worried about you, you clam up and won't tell me anything! What the hell Ruby, am I that unimportant!"

Ruby could feel her own temper beginning to burn as she continued to listen. Yang was full of anger right now, she understood that, but to attack her like this, in a combat situation, was terrible, and it went to show just how unprepared the other girl was for real life.

Yang didn't know her, that was the thing. the two had only known each other for less than a month, how much had they really talked about themselves.

Sure, Yang was always there to protect her from Weiss, but that was more out of a need to atone for what she did on their first day, she was sure. The girl did act like her best friend, but had she ever bothered to ask about her life before she came to beacon? No, it was always them just playing pranks, talking about the other members of their team, maybe watching a movie together.

Growling as it reached a boiling point, Ruby blocked one last punch before the dam burst, and, using her own overwhelming strength, the same she had used to drag a grim four times her size up a mountain, pushed away her sister.

Finally given a moment of breathing room, Ruby's silver eyes changed in that moment, as the girl went from innocent 15 year old little sister, to battle-hardened 15 year old mercenary, and she dedicated herself to beating this opponent, just like she had all of the others before this 17 year old.

Charging at the blonde with a battle cry, Yang was startled when the direct attack she had been expecting turned into a feint, as the redhead slipped in under her guard, and kicked her in the face, making the blonde growl as she felt her nose move, and probably begin to lightly bleed, the younger girl's boots harder than she'd expected.

putting a little space between the two of them again, Yang brought up her guard in preparations for another attack, ignoring her broken nose, and growled at her opponent, all thoughts of sisterhood forgotten, and just another target in front of her.

The two charged to engage once again, Ruby swinging crescent rose in a downward slice, and Yang going for a gut shot. neither attack connected, as Yang used her other gauntlet to block the scythe, and Ruby grabbed the girl by her unguarded forearm to stop her attack.

Their eyes met in their lock, and the fire that burned within refused to be tamed, nothing more than another enemy in front of them.

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Everyone else watched in shock as the two sisters went at it ferociously, attacks being blocked, dodged and parried, all the while the two seemed to look at each other in a new light.

Blake and Ren were the only ones that really seemed to understand this fight, what it represented to the two, while everyone else was just surprised the two were so vicious.

Jaune seemed entirely shocked his best friend was being so rough with the girl she had always talked so strongly in defence of, and the blonde that had always seemed to be there for the younger girl since their first night at the school.

Weiss even seemed to realize that something had changed in this fight, as her eyes were opened wide, and she hurried over to the headmaster and his assistant.

"Professor Ozpin, you have to stop this fight now, those two are far beyond the parameters of the duel, and nothing is going to get accomplished at this point," The heiress tried to reason, but the headmaster just sipped from his mug absently and continued to watch in silence.

They could hear the two talking, or rather arguing through the screen.

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Both girl's split apart once again, their weapons rebounding off of each other as their moods continued to rise further towards the inevitable breaking point.

Ruby spun crescent rose around several times, rose petals flying off of the beautifully deadly weapon, before she stopped, it pointing at the ground, and looking ready for the final blows.

Yang shared her sisters sentiments, as she struck a battle pose and glared down her sister, her fiery aura re-igniting at her feet, ready to end this argument.

The two waited for a moment, for that inevitable unseen signal, before they charged, both shouting at the top of their lungs.

Ruby lifted her scythe in another downward strike, while yang pulled back her fist, ready to release an anger-fueled punch into her baby sister's gut, uncaring how much it might hurt her.

Unfortunately, mid charge, Ruby's years of training and sense returned to her, and she realized in horror what she was doing, attacking her own sister like she was another monster to be taken down. and in that moment she chose the high grounds, praying silently that the goddess would let her survive.

Just before the two connected, Ruby shifted her scythe in her hands, switching to a right handed powered swing, her weaker hand, and started her swipe too early, easily flying wide of her target, but still managing to sever a few strands of long blonde hair, which went unnoticed by the blonde.

Yang though, didn't share the girl's sentiments, and her anger-fueled fist continued on it's intended path, though it seemed at the very last second Ruby managed to dodge out of the way of the attack.

The two skidded to a stop a few feet from one another, and everyone that had been watching were sure that both had missed their final strikes, as neither seemed to have an injury on their bodies besides Yang's still bleeding nose.

Just as yang was getting up and turning to face the girl again, she heard the unmistakable sound of crescent rose being shifted back into a gun, which made her heart leap into her throat, unbelieving that her sister might shoot at her.

Instead her eyes widened as she saw the redhead, simply standing there, cloak billowing in the autumn breeze crescent rose sheathed at her back, with both hands up in the air in the universal signal for surrender.

no one could believe that Ruby Rose had forfeited.

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The pair ascended the cliffs quickly, and without much effort, using their individual recoil to launch themselves up in record time, and were soon standing before professor Ozpin and miss Glynda again.

"I suppose Yang Xiao Long is the winner of this match, on the grounds of forfeit," Ozpin finally announced, though no one cheered. the fight they had witnessed had left a bad taste in everyone's mouths, least of all the two participants.

Yang quietly returned to her team-mates, and sat between the two quietly, lost in contemplation of what the redhead had done, thinking she had always had more honour than that, and regretting what she'd said in the forest.

Ruby on the other hand, had begun to leave the minute Professor Ozpin finished his announcement, and no one tried to stop her, as the redhead disappeared in a burst of rose petals, which had become customary around the school since she arrived.

Ozpin seemed to recall something offhandedly after the redhead left, "Miss long, might I suggest you visit the care centre to get your nose checked out, before it becomes infected, and we are forced to remove you from active duty."

"Yes sir," The blonde replied monotonously, the look her two team-mates were giving her further driving home how badly she had messed up, and how her temper had been the cause of all of this.

"The next match will be Kyris Wellings Vs Lei Sha, ladies, if you would step forward," Ozpin asked, and the two girls from the unknown team in the corner stepped forward quietly, but the last thing on the mind of Yang.

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Ruby collapsed against the tree, holding her chest, trying to keep her breathing steady as her mind went back over everything that had just happened. Yang was angry, she had seen that coming, but to attack her in the middle of training was something she couldn't have expected, thus explaining her own explosion.

Her breath hitched in her chest, and she coughed, tasting copper once more as she held her stomach, cursing the fact she hadn't dodged sooner, but blaming only herself for being so stupid as to let her anger get the best of her again.

She could feel her heart clenching when she realized just what had happened, and what the repercussions would probably be for this episode, and, for the first time in years, ever since the death of her mother, Ruby rose found herself in tears, while she tried to ease the pain from her damaged ribs.

Pulling her legs up, and wrapping her arms around them, Ruby spent the rest of the night alone in the tree, silently wishing that her mother was there, to help her know what to do to make everything right again with Yang.

and the stars in the sky shone a bit brighter that night.

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A/N: Another small notice, updates for this series may be slowing down to weekly, as it seems I've burned myself out, and am in need of breaks between trying to write. It is not from a lack of content to write about, as I have the rough design of this series already planned out, it's just that I haven't been able to do any of the writing behind it for the last few days.

With that said, hope that you enjoyed, and please remember that your reviews mean a lot to me, and I make sure to read them all, even if I don't respond to them all.


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